Temporarily Employed

Well, I wanted to share with all of you that I have accepted a temporary position with the University of Wisconsin - Madison in the Center on Education and Work. I am going to be working for them full-time until mid-March as a Conference Assistant for a large career-centered conference that takes place in Madison at the end of January. I'll be 1/2 of the conference team with the exception of student workers. I just got the job offer yesterday afternoon and I've decided to take the position. I was a little bit of a committment-phobic with this job and with a lot of support from my family and friends (thanks, Beth!), I decided to go for it. The worst it can do is keep me occupied, give me some extra money and help me learn my way around. The best it could do would be to help me network and meet new people. You never know. I am excited about having a job, having somewhere to "be." I start on October 1st!

Today

Hi all,

Today has been a good day. I had another interview that went well, but we'll see. They gave me tests to complete as well as the interview itself. I like interviews like that. I don't know when I'll know something but we'll see. I really liked those that I'd be working with.

Jared has been working the huge conference this week so I haven't seen him a lot during the past two weeks. It makes me a little more lonely but it also makes me more excited to see him. Today I explored downtown a little more after my interview. It's been so cold here for over two weeks that I couldn't wait to take advantage of this gorgeous 75 degree weather. Although, I had to go to the doctor for my cold this afternoon and I rushed home to see Stephenie Meyer on Ellen. I really wanted it to last longer but what can you do? Call Ellen and have her spend more time with particular guests!?!?! HA!

Not a lot more to report today. We watched Speed Racer last night for our pizza and movie night. It was fun just to hang out with Jared and the pups.

I hope all is well in Indiana. I am hoping to go to a pumpkin patch this weekend... who knows? Jared may have to work.

As promised...

Here is my red hair. Hopefully it'll give you some idea of how it looks!

Sorry for my lack of writing recently but I've been busy reading the Twilight Saga. I honestly feel sad now that I'm done with the books... like an old friend is gone or something. Oh well, Stephenie Meyer will be on Ellen tomorrow and I'm just looking forward to the Official Guide! Why did it take me so long to read those books!?!??! I just love them!!! Wow. Jared keeps saying that Edward is my boyfriend. :) Oh, so funny!

Anyway, now that they're read I'm back to the land of the living. I went to a career fair today. I made some contacts but nothing quite fit - at least not yet. I have another interview tomorrow at UW-Madison as a Conference Assistant. I'll let you know how it goes.

Fingers crossed!

Things I love about Wisconsin

Here is a short list of some of the things I've come to love about where I live...
1. Country roads - long, winding and hilly roads - less than 5 minutes from home
2. Seeing Jared every day at lunchtime
3. Fried cheese curds
4. Waltham Park - maybe two minutes walking from our house
5. Fresh flowers weekly at the Farmer's Market
6. The Farmer's Market in general
7. The hills...everywhere...even in my neighborhood
8. My backyard - it feels like your in the woods when you're really in my backyard
9. My screened in back porch with rocking chairs
10. Sweater weather, already!!! I've worn sweaters every day for the past week!

Rejection

For those of you keeping up, I wanted to inform you that UW-Madison is no longer interested in pursuing me as a candidate for the position I've previously mentioned. I'm more sad than I let on, but I know that the right job/career path is out there somewhere even if this wasn't the right direction for me. I have a career fair next Tuesday that I'm going to attend which will hopefully turn into something more.

In the meantime, I've been kickboxing, jogging on the elliptical, reading, applying for other jobs, taking care of my household and meditating. My yoga classes are going to start tomorrow, I think. I've narrowed it down to two studios and I can't decide which studio to go to.

My Outdoor Spaces

This new house comes complete with a beautiful cedar stairway/deck and a screened-in porch off of the master. We have begun to LOVE our new spaces so I thought I'd send you a picture or 2 of our new outdoor spaces! Sorry for the sideways pictures... I'm using a new operating system that Jared loaded on the laptop.

Pictures

Jared and Aubrey in Jared's office! Look how big she is!!!! She gets baptized in a month!


Phinneas' new habit is to sit with his nose under your elbow during meals so that all you can see of him is his little nose and whiskers. It's hilarious. Here's a picture of him just so you don't forget what he looks like! He was on the blow-up bed in the guest room before our stuff arrived.

Benton's favorite hang out while we were unpacking. This particular paper trail was in the doorway of our kitchen/dining room.


This is Oliver's new favorite napping spot. It's the small bay window next to our dining nook in the kitchen. He loves to bark at people (and their dogs) walking by.

Red hair

Oh, by the way, I dyed my hair a dark auburn red with some blonde/copper highlights. I cut 2-3 inches off and I love it. The lady tried to give me some bang-type things so I'm still getting used to them. I'll post a photo soon!!!!

And then there was TV!

So, we finally got TV hooked up at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. I watched a full hour of Sabrina yesterday and I TiVoed another full hour of it! I had missed it! The only problem is I'm on Central time so everything starts at 7:00 p.m. not 8:00 p.m. so I've missed the beginning of several shows so far. I wonder how long it will take for me to remember that!

I've also started planning my mom's birthday party on October 3rd! I have the venue booked and invitations out. I even bought a dress already but I'm keeping the tags and reciept in case I decide to take it back - or if I find a better one! I need to focus on the CAKE and on the decorations. The rest of the food will be easy because we're only providing snack-y foods. The colors are black, gold and ivory and I think I'm going to have ivory linens and ivory cala lillies. I can't decide on all the rest yet... we'll see!

Ok, more details to come. Oliver and Phinneas need attention and they keep putting their paws on the keyboard and messing me up!!! - they're on either side of me on the couch right now. :)

The Selmer's Visit

Heather, Jason and Aubrey came up Thursday night for the Labor Day weekend and we had a great time. Jared worked on Friday so we just slept in on Friday, played with the baby, went out to lunch (I only got us slightly lost once!) and we talked and relaxed in the afternoon. Friday night we took everyone to Jared's work where we posed for some pictures and walked around. Funny enough we bumped into Jared's twin, Josh's, best friend. It was so funny to bump into him. After that we decided to grill out at home. We stayed up late playing games, watching tv and just catching up. It was so nice to be surrounded by people you know and love.

On Saturday, we got up early and went to the Farmer's Market. Heather and Jason got some cheese curds to take home. I got some fresh cucumbers (for my cucumber and allouette sandwiches that Pam has me hooked on) and a bouquet of flowers. We stopped for brunch at a restaurant on the square called The Old Fashion(ed?). It was so nice to share our favorite restaurant with them. I just want them to know all about my life here so far. After that we walked all the way down State Street to the UWMadison campus. Heather bought herself a shirt and she bought baby Aubrey a little shirt. As we walked back, I found a kelly green North Face fleece on same for 1/2 price. I fell instantly in love and since buying me a North Face was part of the moving agreement, Jared bought it for me. I love it. Bring on the sweater weather! I also found two GREAT stores with random, awesome items to buy. I'll def. go back there! So the morning was VERY productive.

After that we ran to the grocery to get stuff for dinner. We were making grilled chicken and stuff. I think we just stayed home most of the rest of the evening. We played more games, cooked dinner, chatted, watched the Cubs game and just hung out. Oh, then we went out for ice cream after dinner! It was good.

They decided that they needed to go home on Sunday to get ready for the week so we got up Sunday morning and went to the Great Dane's brunch. It was $15 but so worth it (at least to me). They had a TON of food and we were all stuffed when we left. After that they got loaded up, took a few more pictures and they got on the road.

I was pretty sad because it had been so nice having them here but now I just have all the more reason to look forward to Christy's wedding the first weekend in October.

My Interview

Well this is late in coming but I had my interview at UW-Madison last week and I think (I hope, too) that it went really well. It was move-in day on campus so the energy was awesome but that also meant that I got up and went really early! I had purchsed a new red button down dress shirt for my interview and Nate and Courtney got me a beautiful gold necklace from The Loft for my birthday that I wore with my black suit. I definitley looked the part.

I had a whole bag of goodies for my presentation segment, full of samples of invitations and save the date cards, schedules, communication flows and timelines. I had created 10 folders for those interviewing me that consisted of all of the information above with a copy of my resume and a business card. The folders were black glossy UW folders with a red glossy embossed logo. I also had a sample packet of what the counselors would receive complete with UW information that I received on campus when Jared and I were walking around as well as a bunch of goodies... a mug, Bucky the Badger cheese curds, a UW lunch box, a badger pennent for their office, a pen and a black glossy folder (same as the others) all inside their own Bucky the Badger gift bag that held all of the above.

I had a red glossy folder with a silver embossed logo that held extras as well as my materials. I also had my black portfolio for the interview segment. So walking in with my bag of goodies and black briefcase bag, I kind of looked the part.

I really, really liked who I interviewed with. I think I answered everything as honestly and professionally as I could.

In the presentation, I think I did really well. Although I was the first to interview so I don't know how others will measure up. At least I set the bar, hopefully high.

Anyway, I hope to hear soon! I'll keep you posted.

Let's ust